American involvement was initially in the form of equipment, money and "advisors", but by the 1960s, these "advisors" were many thousands. Foreign countries began actively fighting on both sides of the conflict (most on the side of South Vietnam). American ships were supposedly attacked by North Vietnamese ones in 1964[[note]] the Gulf of Tonkin incident, which to this day does not have an official version of what happened. Sailors claimed they were attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats on two separate days, but the details were so widely varied that Johnson himself said "They might have been shooting at flying fish out there"[[/note]], and so President Lyndon Johnson ordered a massive military presence in Vietnam to "protect the freedom" of South-East Asia and curtail the advance of Communism. In strictly legal terms, the United States didn't enter a war, as Congress never wrote a declaration of war; the entire conflict was essentially an executive order. If you go into any U.S.-government-funded library, you'll likely have to search under "Vietnam Conflict". [[UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar The Korean Conflict]] and [[TheWarOnTerror the Overseas Contingency Operation]] are likewise not officially wars (although Korea at least was authorized by the UN).

to:

American involvement was initially in the form of equipment, money and "advisors", but by the 1960s, these "advisors" were many thousands. Foreign countries began actively fighting on both sides of the conflict (most on the side of South Vietnam). American ships were supposedly attacked by North Vietnamese ones in 1964[[note]] the Gulf of Tonkin incident, which to this day does not have an official version of what happened. Sailors claimed they were attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats on two separate days, but the details were so widely varied that Johnson himself said "They might have been shooting at flying fish out there"[[/note]], and so President Lyndon Johnson ordered a massive military presence in Vietnam to "protect the freedom" of South-East Asia and curtail the advance of Communism. In strictly legal terms, the United States didn't enter a war, as Congress never wrote a declaration of war; the entire conflict was essentially an executive order. If you go into any U.S.-government-funded library, you'll likely have to search under [[http://www.history.army.mil/html/bookshelves/resmat/vw.html "Vietnam Conflict".Conflict"]]. [[UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar The Korean Conflict]] and [[TheWarOnTerror the Overseas Contingency Operation]] are likewise not officially wars (although Korea at least was authorized by the UN).

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' #216 (May 1969) sees Clark sent to Vietnam as a combat correspondent.* In ''Superman'' #370 (April 1982), a flashback to ComicBook/{{Superboy}}'s college years (by this point taking place during TheSeventies thanks to ComicBookTime) shows the Boy of Steel visiting Vietnam toward the tail end of the war, in order to rescue his roommate's parents.

As the war's popularity declined The Draft became increasingly controversial, even in the white community. Selective Service (to give it its proper title), done on a lottery system, had been around in the past – Music/ElvisPresley was famously drafted for two years in the 1950s. The draft became increasingly wide-ranging and undiscriminating. As a case in point, Project 100,000 lowered the mental acumen standards for draftees - Film/ForrestGump was not entirely a fiction. As a matter of fact, the lieutenant responsible for the My Lai Massacre was only even ''allowed into the Army'' because of the reduced standards of Project 100,000. These desperate measures were deemed necessary because the US had also decided to maintain a reasonably large standing army in western Europe, rather than relying solely on nuclear weapons (as under Truman-Eisenhower) to deter Soviet aggression. Moreover only low-quality draftees were assigned to General Infantry (GI) cannonfodder roles in particular and the non-European theatre in general. Not at all coincidentally, discarding UnfortunateImplications and moving to Racist-But-Intended-Statements, black men were disproportionately categorised as low-quality manpower due to their worse education and phyical fitness. This resulted from lower state funding for so-called 'separate but equal' black-only schools under Segregation and general malnutrition as a result of poverty. Accordingly, they were disproportionately assigned to GI service in Vietnam. Critics noted that Project 100,000 increased this disprortionate effect, as intentionally poor schooling had reduced black men's ability to score well on IQ tests.

to:

As the war's popularity declined The Draft became increasingly controversial, even in the white community. Selective Service (to give it its proper title), done on a lottery system, had been around in the past – Music/ElvisPresley was famously drafted for two years in the 1950s. The draft became increasingly wide-ranging and undiscriminating. As a case in point, Project 100,000 lowered the mental acumen standards for draftees - Film/ForrestGump was not entirely a fiction. As a matter of fact, the lieutenant responsible for the My Lai Massacre was only even ''allowed into the Army'' because of the reduced standards of Project 100,000. These desperate measures were deemed necessary because the US had also decided to maintain a reasonably large standing army in western Europe, rather than relying solely on nuclear weapons (as under Truman-Eisenhower) to deter Soviet aggression. Moreover only low-quality draftees were assigned to General Infantry (GI) cannonfodder roles in particular and the non-European theatre theatres in general. Not at all coincidentally, discarding UnfortunateImplications and moving to Racist-But-Intended-Statements, Explicitly-Racist-Statements, black men were disproportionately categorised as low-quality manpower due to their worse education and phyical fitness. This resulted from lower state funding for so-called 'separate but equal' black-only schools under Segregation and general malnutrition as a result of poverty. Accordingly, they were disproportionately assigned to GI service in Vietnam. Critics noted that Project 100,000 increased this disprortionate effect, as intentionally poor schooling had reduced black men's ability to score well on IQ tests.

As the war's popularity declined The Draft became increasingly controversial, even in the white community. Selective Service (to give it its proper title), done on a lottery system, had been around in the past – Music/ElvisPresley was famously drafted for two years in the 1950s. The draft became increasingly wide-ranging and undiscriminating. As a case in point, Project 100,000 lowered the mental acumen standards for draftees - Film/ForrestGump was not entirely a fiction. As a matter of fact, the lieutenant responsible for the My Lai Massacre was only even ''allowed into the Army'' because of the reduced standards of Project 100,000. These desperate measures were deemed necessary because the US had also decided to maintain a reasonably large standing army in western Europe, rather than relying solely on nuclear weapons (as under Truman-Eisenhower) to deter Soviet aggression. Moreover only low-quality draftees were assigned to General Infantry (GI) cannonfodder roles in particular and the non-European theatre in general. Not at all coincidentally, discarding UnfortunateImplications and moving to Racist-But-Intended-Statements, black men were disproportionately categorised as low-quality manpower due to their worse education and phyical fitness. This resulted from lower state funding for so-called 'separate but equal' black-only schools under Segregation and general malnutrition as a result of poverty. Accordingly, black men were disproportionately assigned to GI service in Vietnam. Critics noted that Project 100,000 increased this disprortionate effect, as intentionally poor schooling had reduced black mens' ability to score well on IQ tests.

to:

As the war's popularity declined The Draft became increasingly controversial, even in the white community. Selective Service (to give it its proper title), done on a lottery system, had been around in the past – Music/ElvisPresley was famously drafted for two years in the 1950s. The draft became increasingly wide-ranging and undiscriminating. As a case in point, Project 100,000 lowered the mental acumen standards for draftees - Film/ForrestGump was not entirely a fiction. As a matter of fact, the lieutenant responsible for the My Lai Massacre was only even ''allowed into the Army'' because of the reduced standards of Project 100,000. These desperate measures were deemed necessary because the US had also decided to maintain a reasonably large standing army in western Europe, rather than relying solely on nuclear weapons (as under Truman-Eisenhower) to deter Soviet aggression. Moreover only low-quality draftees were assigned to General Infantry (GI) cannonfodder roles in particular and the non-European theatre in general. Not at all coincidentally, discarding UnfortunateImplications and moving to Racist-But-Intended-Statements, black men were disproportionately categorised as low-quality manpower due to their worse education and phyical fitness. This resulted from lower state funding for so-called 'separate but equal' black-only schools under Segregation and general malnutrition as a result of poverty. Accordingly, black men they were disproportionately assigned to GI service in Vietnam. Critics noted that Project 100,000 increased this disprortionate effect, as intentionally poor schooling had reduced black mens' men's ability to score well on IQ tests.

As the war's popularity declined The Draft became increasingly controversial, even in the white community. Selective Service (to give it its proper title), done on a lottery system, had been around in the past – Music/ElvisPresley was famously drafted for two years in the 1950s. The draft became increasingly wide-ranging and undiscriminating. As a case in point, Project 100,000lowered the mental acumen standards for draftees - Film/ForrestGump was not entirely a fiction. As a matter of fact, the lieutenant responsible for the My Lai Massacre was only even ''allowed into the Army'' because of the reduced standards of Project 100,000). These desperate measures were deemed necessary because the US had also decided to maintain a reasonably large standing army in western Europe, rather than relying solely on nuclear weapons (as under Truman-Eisenhower) to deter Soviet aggression. Moreover only low-quality draftees were assigned to General Infantry (GI) cannonfodder roles in particular and the non-European theatre in general. Not at all coincidentally, discarding UnfortunateImplications and moving to Racist-But-Intended-Statements, black men were disproportionately categorised as low-quality manpower due to their worse education and phyical fitness. This resulted from lower state funding for so-called 'separate but equal' black-only schools under Segregation and general malnutrition as a result of poverty. Accordingly, black men were disproportionately assigned to GI service in Vietnam.

to:

As the war's popularity declined The Draft became increasingly controversial, even in the white community. Selective Service (to give it its proper title), done on a lottery system, had been around in the past – Music/ElvisPresley was famously drafted for two years in the 1950s. The draft became increasingly wide-ranging and undiscriminating. As a case in point, Project 100,000lowered 100,000 lowered the mental acumen standards for draftees - Film/ForrestGump was not entirely a fiction. As a matter of fact, the lieutenant responsible for the My Lai Massacre was only even ''allowed into the Army'' because of the reduced standards of Project 100,000).100,000. These desperate measures were deemed necessary because the US had also decided to maintain a reasonably large standing army in western Europe, rather than relying solely on nuclear weapons (as under Truman-Eisenhower) to deter Soviet aggression. Moreover only low-quality draftees were assigned to General Infantry (GI) cannonfodder roles in particular and the non-European theatre in general. Not at all coincidentally, discarding UnfortunateImplications and moving to Racist-But-Intended-Statements, black men were disproportionately categorised as low-quality manpower due to their worse education and phyical fitness. This resulted from lower state funding for so-called 'separate but equal' black-only schools under Segregation and general malnutrition as a result of poverty. Accordingly, black men were disproportionately assigned to GI service in Vietnam. \n Critics noted that Project 100,000 increased this disprortionate effect, as intentionally poor schooling had reduced black mens' ability to score well on IQ tests.

The USA's population was becoming increasingly unhappy with the conduct of the war, and even the war itself. The war was broadcast, uncensored, on US TV every night. It generally looked bad. The military would trumpet the "body count" (the number of insurgents they had killed), but these figures were subject to manipulation by both sides. The black community was particularly incensed on principle and due to losses. Part of this came from solidarity with non-white anti-imperialist liberation and working-class movements worldwide. But this was outweighed by the outrage the black community felt at bearing a disproportionate share of the costs of a war that it disagreed with on principle: [[http://www.americanwarlibrary.com/vietnam/vwc10.htm despite accounting for less than 11% of the population, 14% of the American soldiers killed or crippled in Vietnam were black]]. The black community was ''far'' less able to afford draft-dodging measures than the children of America's then-overwhelmingly white millionaires and billionaires. For instance, UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump, [[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/02/how-donald-trump-avoided-the-draft-during-the-vietnam-war/ used his dad's money to buy his way into Pennsylvania University and get a medical exemption from service]]. Tthe eponymous song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec0XKhAHR5I 'Fortunate Son' references the elite's draft-dodging practices]].

As the war's popularity declined The Draft became increasingly controversial, even in the white community. Selective Service (to give it its proper title), done on a lottery system, had been around in the past – Music/ElvisPresley was famously drafted for two years in the 1950s. The draft became increasingly wide-ranging and undiscriminating [[note]] (case in point, Project 100,000, which lowered the mental acumen standards for draftees. Film/ForrestGump was not entirely a fiction. As a matter of fact, the lieutenant responsible for the My Lai Massacre was only even ''allowed into the Army'' because of the reduced standards of Project 100,000)[[/note]] as U.S. involvement in Vietnam deepened; the U.S., after all, not only needed to send forces to Vietnam, but at the same time maintain considerable standing armies worldwide to deter Soviet aggression (for instance, for a good part of the war the bulk of high-quality American draftees weren't sent to Vietnam, but to ''Germany''). The draft, however, had some exemptions. You would not be drafted if you were in college. Since most poor people couldn't afford college[[note]] Except in California, where state college was free[[/note]] , and most black people were poor (Segregation only ended in 1963, remember), you can guess how that went over. This was changed toward the end of the war, but not before a number of now-powerful people (UsefulNotes/BillClinton among them) took advantage. Being married meant you were not drafted, although that rule was quickly changed so that you needed to have a child to avoid going. Congress effectively ended conscription in 1972, though men are still required to register for it just in case it's ever reinstated.

Not at all coincidentally, discarding UnfortunateImplications and moving to Racist-But-Intended-Statements, black men were categorised as low-quality manpower due to their worse education and phyical fitness (which resulted from lower state funding for so-called 'separate but equal' black-only schools under Segregation and general malnutrition as a result of poverty). Accordingly, black men were disproportionately assigned to the highest-casualty General Infantry (GI) role within the Army and the non-European theatres in general.

to:

The USA's population was becoming increasingly unhappy with the conduct of the war, and even the war itself. The war was broadcast, uncensored, on US TV every night. It generally looked bad. The military would trumpet the "body count" (the number of insurgents they had killed), but these figures were subject to manipulation by both sides. The black community was particularly incensed on principle and due to losses. Part of this came from solidarity with non-white anti-imperialist liberation and working-class movements worldwide. But this was outweighed by the outrage the black community felt at bearing a disproportionate share of the costs of a war that it disagreed with on principle: [[http://www.americanwarlibrary.com/vietnam/vwc10.htm despite accounting for less than 11% of the population, 14% of the American soldiers killed or crippled in Vietnam were black]]. The black community was ''far'' less able to afford draft-dodging measures than the children of America's then-overwhelmingly white millionaires and billionaires. For instance, UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump, [[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/02/how-donald-trump-avoided-the-draft-during-the-vietnam-war/ used his dad's money to buy his way into Pennsylvania University and get a medical exemption from service]]. Tthe eponymous song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec0XKhAHR5I 'Fortunate Son' references the elite's draft-dodging practices]].billionaires (more on that later).

As the war's popularity declined The Draft became increasingly controversial, even in the white community. Selective Service (to give it its proper title), done on a lottery system, had been around in the past – Music/ElvisPresley was famously drafted for two years in the 1950s. The draft became increasingly wide-ranging and undiscriminating [[note]] (case undiscriminating. As a case in point, Project 100,000, which lowered 100,000lowered the mental acumen standards for draftees. draftees - Film/ForrestGump was not entirely a fiction. As a matter of fact, the lieutenant responsible for the My Lai Massacre was only even ''allowed into the Army'' because of the reduced standards of Project 100,000)[[/note]] as U.S. involvement in Vietnam deepened; 100,000). These desperate measures were deemed necessary because the U.S., after all, not only needed US had also decided to send forces to Vietnam, but at the same time maintain considerable a reasonably large standing armies worldwide army in western Europe, rather than relying solely on nuclear weapons (as under Truman-Eisenhower) to deter Soviet aggression (for instance, for a good part of the war the bulk of high-quality American aggression. Moreover only low-quality draftees weren't sent were assigned to Vietnam, General Infantry (GI) cannonfodder roles in particular and the non-European theatre in general. Not at all coincidentally, discarding UnfortunateImplications and moving to Racist-But-Intended-Statements, black men were disproportionately categorised as low-quality manpower due to their worse education and phyical fitness. This resulted from lower state funding for so-called 'separate but equal' black-only schools under Segregation and general malnutrition as a result of poverty. Accordingly, black men were disproportionately assigned to ''Germany''). The draft, however, GI service in Vietnam.

As we alluded to earlier, the draft had some exemptions. exemptions for rich or married men (with children). You would not couldn't be drafted if you were in college. Since most poor people couldn't afford college[[note]] Except in California, where state college or medically unfit to serve, so if you had the money then you could use one or both excuses (the eponymous song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec0XKhAHR5I 'Fortunate Son' references the elite's draft-dodging practices]]). For instance, UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump used both by [[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/02/how-donald-trump-avoided-the-draft-during-the-vietnam-war/ using his dad's money to buy his way into Pennsylvania University and then getting a medical exemption from service]] (as did other prominent elites including UsefulNotes/BillClinton). California was free[[/note]] , and most black people were poor (Segregation only ended in 1963, remember), you can guess how that went over. This an exception to the former excuse, since college tuition there was changed toward the end of the war, but not before a number of now-powerful people (UsefulNotes/BillClinton among them) took advantage.free. Being married meant you were not drafted, although that rule was quickly changed so that you needed to have a child to avoid going. Congress effectively ended conscription in 1972, though men are still required to register for it just in case it's ever reinstated.

Not at all coincidentally, discarding UnfortunateImplications and moving to Racist-But-Intended-Statements, black men were categorised as low-quality manpower due to their worse education and phyical fitness (which resulted from lower state funding for so-called 'separate but equal' black-only schools under Segregation and general malnutrition as a result of poverty). Accordingly, black men were disproportionately assigned to the highest-casualty General Infantry (GI) role within the Army and the non-European theatres in general.reinstated.

As the war's popularity declined The Draft became increasingly controversial, even in the white community. Selective Service (to give it its proper title), done on a lottery system, had been around in the past – Music/ElvisPresley was famously drafted for two years in the 1950s. The draft became increasingly wide-ranging and undiscriminating [[note]] (case in point, Project 100,000, which lowered the mental acumen standards for draftees. Film/ForrestGump was not entirely a fiction. As a matter of fact, the lieutenant responsible for the My Lai Massacre was only even ''allowed into the Army'' because of the reduced standards of Project 100,000)[[/note]] as U.S. involvement in Vietnam deepened; the U.S., after all, not only needed to send forces to Vietnam, but at the same time maintain considerable standing armies worldwide to deter Soviet aggression (for instance, for a good part of the war the bulk of high-quality American draftees weren't sent to Vietnam, but to ''Germany''). The draft, however, had some exemptions. You would not be drafted if you were in college. Since most poor people couldn't afford college,[[note]] Except in California, where state college was free[[/note]] you can guess how that went over. This was changed toward the end of the war, but not before a number of now-powerful people (UsefulNotes/BillClinton among them) took advantage. Being married meant you were not drafted, although that rule was quickly changed so that you needed to have a child to avoid going. Congress effectively ended conscription in 1972, though men are still required to register for it just in case it's ever reinstated.

to:

As the war's popularity declined The Draft became increasingly controversial, even in the white community. Selective Service (to give it its proper title), done on a lottery system, had been around in the past – Music/ElvisPresley was famously drafted for two years in the 1950s. The draft became increasingly wide-ranging and undiscriminating [[note]] (case in point, Project 100,000, which lowered the mental acumen standards for draftees. Film/ForrestGump was not entirely a fiction. As a matter of fact, the lieutenant responsible for the My Lai Massacre was only even ''allowed into the Army'' because of the reduced standards of Project 100,000)[[/note]] as U.S. involvement in Vietnam deepened; the U.S., after all, not only needed to send forces to Vietnam, but at the same time maintain considerable standing armies worldwide to deter Soviet aggression (for instance, for a good part of the war the bulk of high-quality American draftees weren't sent to Vietnam, but to ''Germany''). The draft, however, had some exemptions. You would not be drafted if you were in college. Since most poor people couldn't afford college,[[note]] college[[note]] Except in California, where state college was free[[/note]] , and most black people were poor (Segregation only ended in 1963, remember), you can guess how that went over. This was changed toward the end of the war, but not before a number of now-powerful people (UsefulNotes/BillClinton among them) took advantage. Being married meant you were not drafted, although that rule was quickly changed so that you needed to have a child to avoid going. Congress effectively ended conscription in 1972, though men are still required to register for it just in case it's ever reinstated.reinstated.

Not at all coincidentally, discarding UnfortunateImplications and moving to Racist-But-Intended-Statements, black men were categorised as low-quality manpower due to their worse education and phyical fitness (which resulted from lower state funding for so-called 'separate but equal' black-only schools under Segregation and general malnutrition as a result of poverty). Accordingly, black men were disproportionately assigned to the highest-casualty General Infantry (GI) role within the Army and the non-European theatres in general.

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